



JK 3625 
1873 
. P55 
Copy 1 


THE 

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CONSTITUTION 


OF THE 


Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 


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6 7 3 


ADOPTED 


DECEMBER i 6 . 187 


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HARRISBURG: 

BENJAMIN SINGERLY, STATE PRINTER. 


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MAY 31 1907 
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CONSTITUTION 


OF THE 


Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 


PREAMBLE. 

We, the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, grateful 
to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religions liberty, and 
humbly invoking Ilis guidance, do ordain and establish this Con¬ 
stitution. 


ARTICLE I. 

Declaration of Bights . 

That the general, great and essential principles of liberty and free 
government may be recognized and unalterably established, we de¬ 
clare that 

Section 1 . All men are born equally free and independent, and 
have certain inherent and indefeasible rights, among which are those 
of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing 
and protecting property and reputation, and of pursuing their own 
happiness. 

Sec. 2. All power is inherent in the people, and all free govern¬ 
ments are founded on their authority and instituted for their peace, 
safety and happiness. For the advancement of these ends they 
have at all times an inalienable and indefeasible right to alter, re¬ 
form or abolish their government in such manner as they may think 
proper. 

Sec. 3. All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship 
Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; 
no man can of right be compelled to attend, erect or support any 
place of worship, or to maintain any ministry against his consent; 
no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or inter¬ 
fere with the rights of conscience, and no preference shall ever be 
given by law to any religions establishments or modes of worship. 

Sec. 4. No person who acknowledges the being of a God and a 
future state of rewards and punishments shall, on account of his 
religious sentiments, be disqualified to hold any office or place of 
trust or profit under this Commonwealth. 

Sec. 5. Elections shall be free and equal {and no power, civil or 
military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of 
the right of suffrage. 

Sec. G. Trial by jury shall be as heretofore, and the right thereof 
remain inviolate. 

Sec. 7. The printing press shall be free to every person who may 
undertake to examine the proceedings of the Legislature or any 
branch of government, and no law shall ever be made to restrain 
the right thereof. The free communication of thoughts and opin¬ 
ions is one of the invaluable rights of man, and every citizen may 
freely speak, write and print on any subject, being responsible for 
the abuse of that liberty. No conviction shall be had in any prose¬ 
cution for the publication of papers relating to the official conduct 


Equality and 
rights o, m >n. 


1’oUtical powers 
inherent i i the 
people. Their 
right to I-•form 
government. 


Natural rights of 
conscience ami 
freedom of wor¬ 
ship. 


Ile’igious opinions 
not to disqualify 
for holding office. 


Freedom of elec¬ 
tions. 


Trial by jury. 


Freedom of the 
press. 




4 


Saarches and sei¬ 
zures limited. 


Rights of defence 
ana privileges in 
criminal prosecu¬ 
tions. 


Criminal informa¬ 
tions limited. 
Twice in jeopardy. 
Appropriation of 
private property to 
public use. 


Administration of 
j istice to be free. 
Suits against the 
Commonwealth. 


Limitation upon 
suspension of laws. 


Excessive bail or 
tines and cruel 
punishment for¬ 
bidden. 

Prisoners baila¬ 
ble. Habeas cor¬ 
pus. 


No commission of 
oyer and terminer 
to issue. 

Imprisonment of 
insolvent debtors 
limited. 


Laws ex post facto 
or impairing con¬ 
tracts, irrevocable 
grants, &c., for¬ 
bidden. 

No legislative at¬ 
tainder of treason 
or felonj r . 

Attainder shall not 
work corruption of 
blood or forfeiture 
beyond life. 

No forfeiture for 
suicide or in case 
of death by cas¬ 
ualty. 

Rights of meeting 
anu petition. 


of officers or men in public capacity, or to any other matter proper 
for public investigation or information, where the fact that such 
publication was not maliciously or negligently made shall be estab¬ 
lished to the satisfaction of the jury; and in all indictments for 
libels, the jury shall have the right to determine the law r and the 
facts, under the direction of the court, as in other cases. 

Sec. 8. The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers 
and possessions from unreasonable searches and seizures, and no 
warrant to search any place or to seize any person or things shall 
issue without describing them as nearly as may be, nor without 
probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation subscribed to by 
the affiant. 

Sec. 9. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused hath a right to 
be heard by himself and his counsel, to demand the nature and 
cause of the accusation against him, to meet the witnesses face to 
face, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his 
favor, and, in prosecutions by indictment or information, a speedy 
public trial by an impartial jury of the vicinage; he cannot lie 
compelled to give evidence against himself, nor can he be deprived 
of his life, liberty or property, unless by the judgment of his peers 
or the law of the land. 

Sec. 10. No person shall, for any indictable offence, be proceeded 
against criminally by information, except in cases arising in the 
land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in 
time of war or public danger, or by leave of the court for oppres¬ 
sion or misdemeanor in office. No person shall, for the same 
offence, be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall private 
property be taken or applied to public use, without authority of 
law and without just compensation being first made or seemed. 

Sec. 11. All courts shall be open; and every man for an injury 
done him in his lands,goods, person, or reputation, shall have remedy 
by due course of law, and right and justice administered without 
sale, denial or delay. Suits may he brought against the Common¬ 
wealth in such manner, in such courts, and in such cases as the Leg¬ 
islature may by law direct. 

Sec. 12. No power of suspending laws shall be exercised unless 
by the Legislature or by its authority. 

Sec. 13. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
imposed, nor cruel punishments inflicted. 

Sec. 14. All prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, 
unless for capital offences when the proof is evident or presumption 
great; and the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not lie 
suspended, unless when in case of rebellion or invasion the public 
safety may require it. 

Sec. 15. No commission of oyer and terminer or jail delivery 
shall be issued. 

Sec. 16. The person of a debtor, where there is not strong pre¬ 
sumption of fraud, shall not be continued in prison after delivering 
up his estate for the benefit of his creditors in such manner as 
shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 17. No ex post facto law, nor any law impairing the obliga¬ 
tion of contracts, or making irrevocable any grant of special priv¬ 
ileges or immunities, shall be passed. 

Sec. 18. No person shall be attainted of treason or felony by the 
Legislature. 

Sec. 19. No attainder shall work corruption of blood, nor, except 
during the life of the offender, forfeiture of estate to the Common¬ 
wealth. The estate of such persons as shall destroy their own lives 
shall descend or vest as in cases of natural death, and if any per¬ 
son shall be killed by casualty there shall be no forfeiture by reason 
thereof. 

Sec. 20. The citizens have a right in a peaceable manner to as¬ 
semble together for their common good, and to apply to those in¬ 
vested with the powers of government for redress of grievances or 
other proper purposes, by petition, address or remonstrance. 


Subordination of 
the military to the 
civil power. 

(Quartering of 
troops in houses. 

No title of nobility 
to be created, etc., 
or office tenure i>c- 
yontl good be¬ 
havior. 

Emigration pe»- 
milted. 

Everything in tills 
article excepted 
from the powers of 
government. 


The legislative 
power vested. 


lJiennial elections. 


Legislative terms. 


Sec. 21. The right of the citizens to bear arms in defence of Right to bear arms 
themselves and the State shall not be questioned. 

Sec. 22. No standing army shall, in time of peace, be kept up 
without the consent of the Legislature, and the military shall in all 
cases and at all times be in strict subordination to the civil power. 

Sec. 23. No soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any 
house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but 
iu a manner to be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 24. The Legislature shall not grant any title of nobility or 
hereditary distinction, nor create any office the appointment to 
which shall be for a longer term than during good behavior. 

Sec. 25. Emigration from the State shall not be prohibited. 

Sec. 26 . To guard against transgressions of the high powers 
which we have delegated, we declare that everything in this article 
is excepted out of the general powers of government and shall for¬ 
ever remain inviolate. 

ARTICLE II. 

The Legislature. 

Section 1. The legislative power of this Commonwealth shall 
be vested in a General Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate 
and a House of Representatives. 

Sec. 2. Members of tlie General Assembly shall be chosen at the 
general election every second year. Their term of service shall 
begin on the first day of December next after their election. When¬ 
ever a vacancy shall occur in either House, the presiding officer 
thereof shall issue a writ of election to fill such vacancy for the 
remainder of the term. 

Sec. 3. Senators shall be elected for the term of four years and 
Representatives for the term of two years. 

Sec. 4. The General Assembly shall meet at twelve o’clock, noon, 
an the first Tuesday of January every second year, and at other 
times when, convened by the Governor, but shall hold no adjourned 
annual session after the year one thousand eight hundred and 
seventy-eight. In case of a vacancy in the office of United States 
Senator from this Commonwealth, in a recess between sessions, 
the Governor shall convene the two House's, by proclamation on 
notice not exceeding sixty days, to fill the same. 

Sec. 5. Senators shall be at least twenty-five years of age and 
Representatives twenty-one years of age. They shall have been 
citizens and inhabitants of the State four years, and inhabitants 
of their respective districts one year next before their election 
(unless absent on the public business of the United States or of this 
State,) and shall reside in their respective districts during their 
terms of service. 

Sec. 6. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for 
which he shall have been elected, be appointed to any civil office 
under this Commonwealth, and no member of Congress or other 
person holding any office (except of attorney-at-law or in the militia) 
under the United States or this Commonwealth shall be a member 
of either House during his continuance in office. 

Sec. 7 . No person hereafter convicted of embezzlement of pub¬ 
lic moneys, bribery, perjury or other infamous crime, shall be 
eligible to the General Assembly, or capable of holding any office 
of trust or profit in this Commonwealth. 

Sec. 8 . The members of the General Assembly shall receive such 
salary and mileage for regular and special sessions as shall be fixed 
by law, and no other compensation whatever, whether for service 
upon committee or otherwise. No member of either House shall, 
during the term for which he may have been elected, receive any 
increase of salary, or mileage, under any law passed during such 
term. 

Sec. 9. The Senate shall, at the beginning and close of each 
regular session and at such other times as may be necessary, elect 
one of its members President pro tempore , who shall perform the 
duties of the Lieutenant Governor, in any case of absence or disa- 


Biennlal moot¬ 
ings. 

Special sessions. 


Qualifications of 
Senators and Rep¬ 
resentatives. 


Disqualification 
for appointment 
to ofiice. 

Members of Con¬ 
gress, etc., ineli¬ 
gible to General 
Assembly. 


Conviction of cer¬ 
tain crimes to dis¬ 
qualify. 


Compensation. 


Prosiding officers. 


G 


Each House.to 
judge of the quali- 
iioalions of it.s • 
members. 


Quorum. 


Powers of each 
House. 


Each House shall 
keep and publish a 
join nal. 


Sessions to he open 


A djournments. 


Privileges of mom- 


t) rs. 


Senatorial dis¬ 
tricts. 


■Representative 

districts. 


bilitv of that officer, and whenever the said office of Lieutenant 
Governor shall be vacant. The House of Kepresentat 
elect one of its members as Speaker. Each House shall choose its 
other officers, and shall judge of the election and quailiiudioi. 

majority of each House shall constitute a quorum, 
but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and compel the 

'^ec "lL Eacl^House'shall have power to determine the rules of 
its proceedings and punish its members or otter P™; lor con¬ 
tempt or disorderly behavior m its presence, to , el fol ^ e «oeclienice 
to its process, to protect its members against violence 01 
bribes^or private solicitation, and with the ~-renc e ot two- 
thirds, to expel a member, but not a second time for the same 
cause, and shall have all other powers necessary foi the Ixgis . uie 
of a free State. A member expelled for corruption sliail not thtic- 
after be eligible to either House, and punishment toi contempt 01 
disorderly behavior shall not bar an indictment ioi the same 

01 Sec. 12. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings and 
from time to time publish the same, except such parts as requne 
secrecy, and the yeas and nays ot the membeis on < i ‘ ■, 

shall, at the desire of any two of them, be entered on the jomnah 

Sec. 13. The sessions of each House and the committees ot the 
whole shall be open, unless when the business is such as ougat to 

^SB^H^Neither House shall, without the consent of the other 
adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that 

in which the two Houses shall be sitting. 

Sec. 15. The members of the General Assembly shall m all cases, 
except treason, felony, violation of their oath of office, and.breach 
or surety of the peace, be privileged from arrest duiw then at¬ 
tendance at the sessions of their respective Houses and m g »in & to 
and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate m 
either House they shall not be questioned m any other place. 

Sec 10 The State shall be divided into fifty senatorial districts 
of compact and contiguous territory as nearly equal m population 
as may be, and each district.shall he entitled to elect one Senator. 
Each county containing one or more ratios of population shall be 
entitled to one Senator for eacli ratio, and to an additional Senator 
tor a surplus of population exceeding three-fifths ot a ratio, but no 
county shall form a separate district unless it shall contain rour- 
fifths of a ratio, except where the adjoining counties are each enti¬ 
tled to one or more Senators, when such county may oe assigned <i 
Senator on less than four-fifths and exceeding one-lialf of a ratio; 
and no county shall he divided unless entitled to two or moie Sena¬ 
tors. No city or county shall be entitled to separate representation 
exceeding one-sixtli of the whole number of Senatois. Ao waid, 
borough or township shall be divided in tlip formation of a district. 
The senatorial ratio shall he ascertained by dividing the whole 
population of the State by the number fifty. 

Sec. 17. The members of the House of Representatives shall be 
apportioned among the several counties, on a ratio obtained by di¬ 
viding the population of the State as ascertained by the most re¬ 
cent United States census by two hundred. Every county contain- 
iiio- less than live ratios shall have one representative for every full 
ratio, and an additional representative when the surplus exceeds 
half a ratio; but each county shall have at least one representative. 
Every county containing live ratios or more shall have one repre¬ 
sentative for every full ratio. Every city containing a population 
equal to a ratio shall elect separately its proportion of the repre¬ 
sentatives allotted to the county in which it is located. Eveiy 
citv entitled to more than four representatives, and every county 
having over one hundred thousand inhabitants shall be divided 
into districts of compact and contiguous territory, each district to 




bills. 


Reference and 
printing. 

To contain but one 
subject expressed 
in title. 


('lect its proportion of representatives according to its population, 
but no district shall elect more than four representatives. 

Sec. 18. The General Assembly at its first session after the adop- Apportionments, 
tion of this constitution, and immediately after each United States 
decennial census, shall apportion the State into senatorial and rep¬ 
resentative districts agreeably to the provisions of the two next 
preceding sections. 

ARTICLE III. 

Legislation. 

Section 1 . No law shall be passed except by bill, and no bill Passage 
shall be so altered or amended, on its passage through either House, 
as to change its original purpose. 

Sec. 2. No bill shall be considered ifnless referred to a commit¬ 
tee, returned therefrom, and printed for the use of the members. 

Sec. 3. No bill, except general appropriation bills, shall be passed 
containing more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed 
in its title. 

Sec. 4. Every bill shall be read at length on three different days, to be road m three 
in each House ; all amendments made thereto shall be printed for days, 
the use of the members before the final vote is taken on the bill, A>nendments to ba 
and no bill shall become a law, unless on its final passage the vote pilllLe( ’ 
be taken by yeas and nays, the names of the persons voting for and 
against the same be entered on the journal, and a majority of the 
members elected to each House be recorded thereon as voting in 
its favor. 

Sec. 5. No amendment to bills by one House shall be concurred 
in by the other, except by the vote of a majority of the members 
elected thereto, taken by yeas and nays, and the names of those 
voting for and against recorded upon the journal thereof; and re¬ 
ports of committees of conference shall be adopted in either House 
only by the vote of a majority of the members elected thereto, 
taken by yeas and nays, and the names of those voting recorded 
upon the journals. < 

Sec. 6. No law shall be revived, amended, or the provisions Revival of law. 
thereof extended or conferred, by reference to its title only, but so 
much thereof as is revived, amended, extended or conferred shall 
be re-enacted and published at length. 

Sec. 7. The General Assembly shall not pass any local or special 
law authorizing the creation, extension or impairing of liens ; regu¬ 
lating the affairs of counties, cities, townships, wards, boroughs 
or school districts, changing the names of persons or places; 
changing the venue in civil or criminal cases; authorizing 
the laying out, opening, altering or maintaining roads, high¬ 
ways, streets or alleys, relating to ferries or bridges, or incor¬ 
porating ferry or bridge companies, except for the erection of 
bridges crossing streams which form boundaries between this and 
any other State ; vacating roads, town plats, streets or 


Yeas and nays. 


Votes eoncui rriug 
in amendments 
and on reports of 
conference to be 
yeas and nays. 


Limitation on spe¬ 
cial legislation, 

&c. 


alleys; re¬ 


lating to cemeteries, graveyards, or public grounds not of the State; 
authorizing the adoption or legitimation of children ; locating or 
changing county seats; erecting new counties or changing 
county lines; incorporating cities, towns or villages, or chang¬ 
ing their charters; for the opening and conducting of elec¬ 
tions, or fixing or changing the place of voting ; granting divorces; 
erecting new townships or boroughs; changing township lines, 
borough limits or school districts ; creating offices, or prescribing 
the powers and duties of officers in counties, cities, boroughs, town¬ 
ships, election or school districts ; changing the law of descent or 
succession: regulating the practice or jurisdiction of, or changing 
the rules of evidence in, any judicial proceeding or inquiry before 
courts, aldermen, justices of the peace, sheriffs, commissioners, 
arbitrators, auditors, masters in chancery or other tribunals, or 
providing or changing methods foi he collection of debts, or the 
enforcing of judgments, or prescribing the effect of judicial sales 
of real estate; regulating the fees, or extending the powers and 
duties of aldermen, justices of the peace, magistrates or constables; 


8 


.Notice of local or 
special bills. 


Signing of bills by 
presiding efflwi's. 


Legislative offi¬ 
cers. 


No extra mmpen- 
sat ion to officers or 
contraetoni. 


l’ublie printing. 


N o extonskm of 
official terms or In¬ 
crease of ooinpon- 
sation. 


lie venue bills. 


Appropriation 

bills. 


i’ajrmeigts of mo¬ 
neys from the trea- 
my. 


regulating the management of public schools, the building or re¬ 
pairing of school-houses, and the raising of money for such pur¬ 
poses ; fixing the rate of interest; affecting the estates of minors 
or persons under disability, except after due notice to all parties in 
interest, to be recited in the special .enactment; remitting fines, 
penalties and forfeitures, or refunding moneys legally paid into the 
treasury; exempting property from taxation; regulating labor, 
trade, mining or manufacturing ; creating corporations, or amend¬ 
ing, renewing or extending the charters thereof; granting to any 
corporation, association or individual any special or exclusive priv¬ 
ilege or immunity, or to any corporation, association or individual 
the right to lay down a railroad track ; nor shall the General As¬ 
sembly indirectly enact such special or local law by the partial re¬ 
peal of a general law; but laws repealing local or special acts may 
be passed ; nor shall any law be passed granting powers or privileges 
in any case where the granting of such powers and privileges shall 
have been provided for by general law, nor where the courts have 
jurisdiction to grant the same or give the relief asked for. 

Sec. 8 . No local or special bill shall be passed unless notice of the 
intention to apply therefor shall have been published in the locality 
where the matter or the thing to be effected maybe situated, which 
notice shall he at least thirty days prior to the introduction into the 
General Assembly of such bill and in the manner to he provided by 
law; the evidence of such notice having been published, shall be 
exhibited in the General Assembly, before such act shall be passed. 

Sec. 9. The presiding officer of each House shall, in the presence 
of the House over which he presides, sign all bills and joint resolu¬ 
tions passed by the General Assembly, after their -titles have been 
publicly read immediately before signing ; and the fact of signing 
shall be entered on the journal. 

Sec. 10. The General Assembly shall prescribe by law the num¬ 
ber, duties and compensation of the officers and employees of each 
House, and no payment shall be made from the State Treasury, or 
be in any way authorized, to any person, except to an acting officer 
or employee elected or appointed in pursuance of law. 

Sec. 11. No bill shall be passed giving any extra compensation 
to any public officer, servant, employee, agent or contractor, after 
services shall have been rendered or contract made, nor providing 
for the payment of any claim against the Commonwealth without 
previous authority of law. 

Sec. 12. All stationery, printing, paper and fuel used in the leg¬ 
islative and other departments of government shall be furnished, 
and the printing, binding and distributing of the laws, journals, 
department reports, and all other printing and binding, and the re¬ 
pairing and furnishing the halls and rooms used for the meetings 
of the General Assembly and its committees, shall be performed 
under contract to be given to the lowest responsible bidder below 
such maximum price and under such regulations as shall he pre¬ 
scribed by law; no member or officer of any department of the 
government shall be in any way interested in such contracts, and 
all such contracts shall be subject to the approval of the Governor, 
Auditor General and State Treasurer. 

Sec. 13. No law shall extend the term of anv public officer or 
increase or diminish his salary or emoluments, after liis election or 
appointment. 

Sec. 14. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House 
of Representatives, but the Senate may propose amendments as in 
other bills. 

Sec. 15. The general appropriation bill shall embrace nothing 
but appropriations for the ordinary expenses of. the executive leg¬ 
islative and judiciary departments of the Commonwealth, interest 
on the public debt and for public schools; all other appropriations 
shall he made by separate bills, each embracing but one subject 

Sec. 16. No money shall be paid out of the Treasury, except upon 
appropriations made by law, and on warrant drawn' by the proper 
officer in pursuance thereof. 


9 


Sec. 17. No appropriation shall be made to any charitable or Appropriations to 
educational institution not under the absolute control of the Com- «jiaritabie iustitu- 
monwealth, other than normal schools established by law for the tlons ’ 
professional training of teachers for the public schools of the State, 
except by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each 
House. 

Sec. 18. No appropriations, except for pensions or gratuities for Appropriations for 
military services, shall be made for charitable, educational or be- cha ^ tal ’ le i ,i y- 
nevolent purposes, to any person or community, nor to any denomi- ItXn 1 e . c ” m " 
national or sectarian institution, corporation or association. 

Sec. 19. The General Assembly may make appropriations of Appropriations 
money to institutions wherein the widows of soldiers are supported ni . a > o 1,e for 
or assisted, or the orphans of soldiers are maintained and educated; pilans offoiciiers. 
but such appropriation shall be applied exclusively to the support 
of such widows and orphans. 

Sec. 20. The General Assembly shall not delegate to any special Power over muni- 
commission, private corporation or association, any power to make, a< lh‘ in l ,3 T l " 
supervise or interfere with any municipal unprovement, money, gated, 
property or effects, whether held in trust or otherwise, or to levy 
taxes or perform any municipal function whatever. 

Sec. 21. No act of the General Assembly shall limit the amount No limitation of 
to be recovered for injuries resulting in death, or for injuries to damages for cer- 
persons or property; and, in case of death from such injuries, the tamm -i une8 - 
right of action shall survive, and the General Assembly shall pre¬ 
scribe for whose benefit such actions shall be prosecuted. No act Nor of time for 
shall prescribe any limitations of time within which suits may be bringing suite, 
brought against corporations for injuries to persons or property, or 
for other causes different from those fixed by general laws regula¬ 
ting actions against natural persons, and such acts now existing 
are avoided. 

Sec. 22. No act of the General Assembly shall authorize the in- investment of 
vestment of trust funds by executors, administrators, guardians trust funds, 
or other trustees, in the bonds or stock of any private corporation, 
and such acts now existing are avoided saving investments here¬ 
tofore made. 

Sec. 23. The power to change the venue in civil and criminal changes of venue. 
" cases shall be vested in the courts, to be exercised in such man¬ 
ner as shall be provided by law. 

Sec. 24. No obligation or liability of any railroad or other corpo- no obligation of 
ration, held or owned by the Commonwealth, shall ever be ex- ggporationst°the 
changed, transferred, remitted, postponed, or in any way dimin- iel 3 ed,°etc. re " 
ished bv the General Assembly, nor shall such liability or obliga¬ 
tion be released, except by payment thereof into the State Treasury. 

Sec. 25 . When the General Assembly shall be convened in spe- l imitations of 
cial session, there shall be no legislation upon subjects other than Legislative power 
those designated in the proclamation of the Governor calling such ‘ ‘ b lout ” 

session. 

' Sec. 26. Every order, resolution or vote, to which the concur- concurrent orders, 
rence of both Houses may be necessary, except on the question of 
adjournment, shall be presented to the Governor and before it shall e a to the Governor 
take effect be approved by him, or being disapproved, shall be re¬ 
passed by two-tliirds of both Houses according to the rules and 
limitations prescribed in case of a bill. 

Sec. 27. No State office shall be continued or created for the in- 


No State in spec- / 

spection or measuring of any merchandise, manufacture or com-Jgjs of merciian- 
inodity, but any county or municipality may appoint such officers 
when authorized by law. 

Sec. 28. Nb law changing tire location of the Capital of the changing location 
State shall be valid until the same shall have been submitted to the ®t state Capital, 
qualified electors of the Commonwealth at a general election and 
ratified and approved by them. 

Sec. 29. A member of the General Assembly who shall solicit, mmn- 

demand or receive, or consent to receive, directly or indirectly, for Assembly, 
himself or for another, from any company, corporation or person, 
any money, office, appointment, employment, testimonial, reward, 
thing of value or enjoyment, or of personal advantage, or promise 


10 


Bribery of mem¬ 
bers of General 
Assembly and offi¬ 
cers . 


The offence of cor¬ 
rupt solicitation to 
be punished by tine 
and imprison¬ 
ment. 


Witnesses to tes¬ 
tify in cases of 
bribery and solici¬ 
tation. 


Punishment. 


Interested mem¬ 
bers shall not vote. 


Executive officers. 


The Governor. 


His election. 


Returns of elec¬ 
tion. 


Contested elec¬ 
tions. 


Term of the Gov¬ 
ernor. 


The Lieutenant 
Governor. 


thereof, for his vote or official influence, or for withholding the 
same, or with an understanding, expressed or implied, that his 
vote or official action shall he in any way influenced thereby, or who 
shall solicit or demand any such money or other advantage, matter 
or thing aforesaid for another, as the consideration of his vote or 
official influence, or for withholding the same, or shall give or with¬ 
hold his vote or influence in consideration of the payment or prom¬ 
ise of such money, advantage, matter or thing to another, shall be 
held guilty of bribery within the meaning of this Constitution, 
and shall incur the disabilities provided thereby for said offence, 
and such additional punishment as is or shall be provided by law. 

Sec. 30. Any person who shall, directly or indirectly, offer, give 
or promise, any money, or thing of value, testimonial, privilege, 
or personal advantage, to any executive or judicial officer, or mem¬ 
ber of the General Assembly, to influence him in the performance 
of any of his public or official duties, shall be guilty of bribery and 
be punished in such manner as shall be provided by law. 

Sec. 31. The offence of corrupt solicitation of members of the 
General Assembly or of public officers of the State or of any muni¬ 
cipal division thereof, and any occupation or practice of solicita¬ 
tion of such members or officers to influence their official action, 
shall be defined by law and shall be punished by fine and imprison¬ 
ment. 

Sec. 32. Any person may be compelled to testify in any lawful 
investigation or judicial proceeding against any person who may 
be charged with having committed the offence of bribery or cor¬ 
rupt solicitation, or practices of solicitation, and shall not be per¬ 
mitted to withhold his testimony upon the ground that it may 
criminate himself or subject him to public infamy; but such 
testimony shall not afterwards be used against him in any judicial 
proceeding, except for perjury in giving such testimony; and any 
person convicted of either of the offences aforesaid shall, as part 
of the punishment therefor, be disqualified from holding any office 
or position of honor, trust or profit in this Commonwealth. 

Sec. 33. A member who has a personal or private interest in 
any measure or bill proposed or pending before the General Assem¬ 
bly shall disclose the fact to the House of which he is a member, 
and shall not vote thereon. 

ARTICLE IV. 

The Executive. 

Sectiox 1. The Executive Department of this Commonwealth 
shall consist of a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of 
the. Commonwealth, Attorney General, Auditor General. State 
Treasurer, Secretary of Internal Affairs and a Superintendent of 
Public Instruction. 

Sec. 2. The supreme executive power shall be vested in the Gov¬ 
ernor, who shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed; lie 
shall be chosen on the day of the general election, by the qualified 
electors of the Commonwealth, at the places where they shall vote 
for Representatives. The returns of every election for Governor 
shall be sealed up and transmitted to the seat of government, di¬ 
rected to the President of the Senate, who shall open and publish 
them in the presence of the members of both Houses of the Gene- 
eral Assembly. The person having the highest number of votes 
shall be Governor, but if two or more be equal and highest in 
votes, one of them shall be chosen Governor by the joint vote of 
the members of both Houses. Contested elections shall be deter¬ 
mined by a committee, to be selected from both Houses of the 
General Assembly, and formed and regulated in such manner as 
shall be directed by law. 

Sec. 3. The Governor shall hold his office during four years from 
the third Tuesday of January next ensuing his election, and shall 
not be eligible to the office for the next succeeding term. 

Sec. 4. A Lieutenant Governor shall be chosen at the same time, 
in the same manner, for the same term, and subject to the same 


11 


provisions as the Governor; lie shall be President of the Senate, 
but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided. 

Sec. 5. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor or 
Lieutenant Governor except a citizen of the United States, who 
shall have attained the age of thirty years, and have been seven 
years next preceding his election an inhabitant of the State, unless 
he shall have been absent on the public business of the United 
States or of this State. 

Sec. 6 . No member of Congress or person holding any office 
under the United States, or this State, shall exercise the office of 
Governor or Lieutenant Governor. 

Sec. 7. The Governor shall lie commander-in-chief of the army 
and navy of the Commonwealth, and of the militia, except when 
they shall be called into the actual service of the United States. 

Sec. 8 . lie shall nominate and, by and with the advice and con¬ 
sent of two-thirds of all the members of the Senate, appoint a Sec¬ 
retary of the Commonwealth and an Attorney General during plea¬ 
sure, a Superintendent of Public Instruction for four years, and 
such other officers of the Commonwealth as he is or may be au¬ 
thorized by the Constitution or by law to appoint; he shall have 
power to fill all vacancies that may happen, in offices to which he 
may appoint, during the recess of the Senate, by granting com¬ 
missions which shall expire at the end of their next session: he 
shall have power to fill any vacancy that may happen, during the 
recess of the Senate, in the office of Auditor General, State Trea¬ 
surer, Secretary of internal Affairs or Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, in a judicial office, or in any other elective office which 
he is or may be authorized to fill; if the vacancy shall happen dur¬ 
ing the session of the Senate, the Governor shall nominate to the 
Senate, before their final adjournment, a proper person to fill said 
vacancy: but in any such case of vacancy, in an elective office, a 
person shall be chosen to said office at the next general election, 
unless the vacancy shall happen within three calendar months im¬ 
mediately preceding such election, in which case the election for 
said office shall be held at the second succeeding general election. 
In acting on Executive nominations the Senate shall sit with open 
doors, and, in confirming or rejecting the nominations of the Gov¬ 
ernor’ the vote shall be taken by yeas and nays, and shall be entered 
on the journal. 

Sec. 9. lie shall have power to remit fines and forfeitures, to 
grant reprieves, commutations of sentence and pardons, except in 
cases of impeachment; but no pardon shall be granted, nor sen¬ 
tence commuted, except upon the recommendation in writing of 
the Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Attor¬ 
ney General and Secretary of Internal Affairs, or any three of 
them, after full hearing, upon due public notice and in open ses¬ 
sion ; and such recommendation, with the reasons thereof at length, 
shall be recorded and filed in the office of the Secretary of the Com¬ 
monwealth. 

Sec. 10. lie may require information in writing from the officers 
of the Executive Department, upon any subject relating to the du¬ 
ties of their respective offices. 

Sec. 11. lie shall, from time to time, give to the General Assem¬ 
bly information of the state of the Commonwealth, and recom¬ 
mend to their consideration such measures as he may judge ex¬ 
pedient. 

Sec. 12. lie may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the Gen¬ 
eral Assembly, and in case of disagreement between the two 
Houses, with respect to the time of adjournment, adjourn them to 
such time as he shall think proper, not exceeding four months, 
lie shall have power to convene the Senate in extraordinary session 
by proclamation, for the transaction of Executive business. 


Qualifications of 
Governor and 
Lieutenant Gov¬ 
ernor. 


Congressmen, &c 
disqualified. 


Governor to com¬ 
mand militia. 


Power of Gover¬ 
nor to appoint 
with consent of 
Senate. 


To fill vacancies. 


Senate to act on 
nominations with 
open doors. 

Votes to he re¬ 
corded. 

Pardoning power. 



Governor may re¬ 
quire information 
from Executive 
officers. 

Shall give infor¬ 
mation and recom¬ 
mend measures to 
General Assembly. 


May convene Gen¬ 
eral Assembly, and 
adjourn the two 
Houses when they 
disagree. 


Lieutenant Gov¬ 
ernor to act as 
Governor. 


President pro tem¬ 
pore of tlie Senate. 


Approval of bills. 


Veto. 


.Retained bills to 
become laws. 


Exception. 


A partial veto al¬ 
lowed on appro¬ 
priation bills. 


Chief Justice to 
preside on trial of 
contested election 
of Governor or 
Lieutenant Gov¬ 
ernor. 


Secretary of Com¬ 
monwealth. 


Secretary of Inter¬ 
nal Affairs. 


Superintendent of 
Public Instruction 


Terms of heads of 
departments. 


12 

of the term, or until the disability be removed, shall devolve upon 
the Lieutenant Governor. 

Sec. 14. In case of a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Gov¬ 
ernor, or when the Lieutenant Governor shall be impeached by the 
House of Representatives, or shall he unable to exercise the duties 
of his office, the powers, duties and emoluments thereof for the re¬ 
mainder of the term, or until the disability be removed, shall de¬ 
volve upon the President pro tempore of the Senate ; and the Presi¬ 
dent pro tempore of the Senate shall in like manner become Gov¬ 
ernor if a vacancy or disability shall occur in the office of Gover¬ 
nor ; bis seat as Senator shall become vacant whenever he shall 
become Governor, and shall be filled by election as any other va¬ 
cancy in the Senate. 

Sec. 15. Every bill which shall have passed both Houses shall be 
presented to the Governor ; if he approve he shall sign it, but if * 
he shall not approve he shall return it with his objections to tlie 
House in which it shall have originated, which House shall enter 
the objections at large upon their journal, and proceed to re-consider 
it. If, after such re-consideration, two-tliirds of all the members 
elected to that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent 
with the objections to the other House, by which likewise it shall 
he re-considered ; and if approved by two-thirds of all the members 
elected to that House it shall be a law; but in such cases the votes 
of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the 
names of the members voting for and against the bill shall lie en¬ 
tered on the journals of each House, respectively. If any bill shall 
not be returned by the Governor within ten days after it shall 
have been presented to liim, the same shall be a law in like manner 
as if he had signed it, unless the General Assembly, by their ad¬ 
journment, prevent its return, in which case it shall be a law, un¬ 
less lie shall tile the same, with his objections, in the office of the 
Secretary of the Commonwealth and give notice thereof by public 
proclamation within thirty days after such adjournment. 

Sec. 16. The Governor shall have power to disapprove of any 
item or items of any bill making appropriations of money, embrac¬ 
ing distinct items, and the part or parts of the bill approved shall 
be the law, and the item or items of appropriation disapproved shall 
be void, unless re-passed according to the rules and limitations pre¬ 
scribed for the passage of other hills over the Executive veto. 

Sec. 17. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside 
upon the trial of any contested election of Governor or Lieutenant 
Governor and shall decide questions regarding the admissibility of 
evidence, and shall, upon request of the committee, pronounce his 
opinion upon other questions of law involved in the trial. The 
Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall exercise the duties of 
tlieir respective offices until their successors shall be duly qualified. 

Sec. 18. Tlie Secretary of the Commonwealth shall keep a record 
of all official acts and proceedings of the Governor, and when re¬ 
quired lay the same, with all papers, minutes and vouchers relat¬ 
ing thereto, before either branch of the General Assembly, and 
perform such other duties as may be enjoined upon him by law. 

Sec. 19. The Secretary of Internal Affairs shall exercise all the 
powers and perform all the duties of tlie Surveyor General, subject 
to such changes as shall be made by law. His department shall 
embrace a bureau of industrial statistics, and he shall discharge 
such duties relating to corporations, to the charitable institutions, 
the agricultural, manufacturing, mining, mineral, timber and other 
material or business interests of the State as may be prescribed by 
law. lie shall annually, and at such other times as may be required 
by law r , make report to the General Assembly. 

Sec. 20. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall exercise 
all the powers and perform all the duties of the Superintendent of 
Common Schools, subject to such changes as shall be made by law. 

Sec. 21. The term of the Secretary of Internal Affairs shall be 
four years; of the Auditor General three years ; and of the State 
Treasurer two years. These officers shall be chosen by the qualiffed 


13 


electors of the State at general elections. Xo person elected to the 
office of Auditor General or State Treasurer shall be capable of 
holding the same office for two consecutive terms. 

Sec. 22. The present Great Seal of Pennsylvania shall be the 
seal of the State. All commissions shall be in the name and by 
authority of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and be sealed signed and sealed, 
with the State seal and signed by the Governor. 


Seal of State. 
Commissions to be 


ARTICLE V. 

The Judiciary . 

Section 1. The judicial power of this Commonwealth shall be Tho courts, 
vested in a Supreme Court, in courts of common pleas, courts of 
oyer and terminer and general jail delivery, courts of quarter 
sessions of the peace, orphans’ courts, magistrates’ courts, and 
in such other courts as the General Assembly may from time to 
time establish. 

Sec. 2. The Supreme Court shall consist of seven judges, who The supreme 
shall be elected by the qualified electors of the State at large. They Eg 1 ”* T <S£ie:? ° f 
shall hold their offices for the term of twenty-one years, if they so justice, 
long behave themselves well, but shall not be again eligible. The 
judge whose commission shall first expire shall bh chief justice, 
and thereafter each judge, whose commission shall first expire shall 
in turn be chief justice. 

Sec. 3. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court shall extend over Jurisdiction of 
the State, and the judges thereof shall, by virtue of their offices, Su P re,ue court, 
be justices of oyer and terminer and general jail delivery in the 
several counties; they shall have original jurisdiction in cases of in¬ 
junction where a corporation is a party defendant, of habeas corpus , 
of mandamus to courts of inferior jurisdiction, and of quo warranto 
as to all officers of the Commonwealth whose jurisdiction extends 
over the State, but shall not exercise any other original jurisdiction ; 
they shall have appellate jurisdiction by appeal, certiorari or writ 
of error in all cases, as is now or may hereafter be provided by law. 

Sec. 4. Until otherwise directed by law, the courts of common courts of common 
pleas shall continue as at present established, except as herein [So contain 016 
changed; not more than four counties shall, at any time, be in- more than four 
eluded in one judicial district organized for said courts. counties. 

Sec. 5. Whenever a county shall contain forty thousand inhabi- judicial districts. 
Lints it shall constitute a separate judicial district, and shall elect 
one judge learned in the law ; and the General Assembly shall pro¬ 
vide for additional judges, as the business of the said districts may 
require. Counties containing a population less than is sufficient 
to constitute separate districts shall be formed into convenient 
single districts, or, if necessary, may be attached to contiguous dis¬ 
tricts as the General Assembly may provide. The office of asso- office of associate 
date judge, not learned in the law, is abolished in counties forming judg0 abollsheU - 
separate districts ; but the several associate judges in office when 
this Constitution shall be adopted shall serve for their unexpired 
terms. 

Sec. 6. In the counties of Philadelphia and Allegheny all the ju- common pleas 
risdiction and powers now vested in the district courts and courts courts in piniadei- 
of common pleas, subject to such changes as may be made by this gheny. e ‘ 
Constitution or by law, shall be in Philadelphia vested in four, and 
in Allegheny in two, distinct and separate courts of equal and co¬ 
ordinate jurisdiction, composed of three judges each; the said 
courts in Philadelphia shall be designated respectively as the court 
of common pleas number one, number two, number three and 
number four, and in Allegheny as the court of common pleas num¬ 
ber one and number two, but the number of said courts may be by 
law increased, from time to time, and shall be in like manner de¬ 
signated by successive numbers ; the number of judges in any of increase of judges 
said courts, or in any county where the establishment of an ad- counT. mou 1 
ditional court may be authorized by law, may be increased from 
time to time, and whenever such increase shall amount in the whole 
to three, such three judges shall compose a distinct and separate 


V 


14 


I’rothonotary in 
Philadelphia. 


Separate dockets 
for courts; but one 
judgment and lien 
docket. 

Criminal courts in 
Philadelphia and 
Allegheny. 


Jurisdiction of 
common pleas 
j udges. 


May issue writs of 
certiorari to infe¬ 
rior courts. 


Justices of the 
peace and alder¬ 
men. 


Magistrates in 
Philadelphia. 


court as aforesaid, which shall be numbered as aforesaid. In Phila¬ 
delphia all suits shall be instituted in the said courts of common 
pleas without designating the number of said court, and the several 
courts shall distribute and apportion the business among them in 
such manner as shall be provided by rules of court, and each court, 
to which any suit shall be thus assigned, shall have exclusive ju¬ 
risdiction thereof, subject to change of venue, as shall be provided 
by law. In Allegheny each court shall have exclusive jurisdiction 
of all proceedings at/ law and in equity, commenced therein, sub¬ 
ject to change of venue as may be provided by law. 

Sec. 7. For Philadelphia there shall be one prothonotary’s office, 
and one prothonotary for all said courts to be appointed by the 
judges of said courts, and to hold office for three years, subject to 
removal by a majority of the said judges; the said prothonotary 
shall appoint such assistants as may be necessary and authorized 
by said courts; and he and his assistants shall receive fixed salar- 
ries, to be determined by law and paid by said county; all fees col¬ 
lected in said office, except such as may be by law due to the Com¬ 
monwealth, shall be paid by the prothonotary into the county trea¬ 
sury. Each court shall have its separate dockets, except the judg¬ 
ment docket which shall contain the judgments and liens of all the 
said courts, as is*or may be directed by law. 

Sec. 8 . The said courts in the counties of Philadelphia and 
Allegheny, respectively, shall, from time to time, in turn detail 
one or more of their judges to hold the courts of oyer and terminer 
and the courts of quarter sessions of the peace of said counties, in 
such manner as may be directed by law. 

Sec. 9. Judges of the courts of common pleas learned in the law 
shall be judges of the courts of oyer and terminer, quarter sessions 
of the peace and general jail delivery, and of the orphans’ court, 
and within their respective districts shall be justices of the peace 
as to criminal matters. 

Sec. 10. The judges of the courts of common pleas, within their 
respective counties, shall have power to issue writs of certiorari to 
justices of the peace and other inferior courts not of record, and 
to cause their proceedings to be brought before them, and right 
and justice to be done. 

Sec. 11. Except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, jus¬ 
tices of the peace or aldermen shall be elected in the several wards, 
districts, boroughs and townships at the time of the election of 
constables by the qualified electors thereof, in such manner as shall 
be directed by law, and shall be commissioned by the Governor for 
a term of five years. No township, ward, district or borough shall 
elect more than two justices of the peace or aldermen without the 
consent of a majority of the qualified electors within such town¬ 
ship, ward or borough ; no person shall Vie elected to such office un¬ 
less he shall have resided within the township, borough, ward or 
district for one year next preceding his election. In cities con¬ 
taining over fifty thousand inhabitants, not more than one aider- 
man shall be elected in each ward or district. 

Sec. 12. In Philadelphia there shall be established, for each 
thirty thousand inhabitants, one court, not of record, of police 
and civil causes, with jurisdiction not exceeding one hundred dol¬ 
lars; such courts shall be held by magistrates whose term of office 
shall be five years, and they shall be elected on general ticket by 
the qualified voters at large; and in the election of the said magis¬ 
trates no voter shall vote for more than two-thirds of the number 
of persons to be elected when more than one are to be chosen; they 
shall be compensated only by fixed salaries, to be paid by said 
county; and shall exercise such jurisdiction, civil and criminal, 
except as herein provided, as is now exercised by aldermen, subject 
to such changes, not involving an increase of civil jurisdiction or 
conferring political duties, as may be made by law. In Philadel¬ 
phia the office of alderman is abolished. 

Sec. 13. All fees, fines and penalties in said courts shall be paid 
into the county treasury. 


15 


Sec. 14. In all cases of summary conviction in this Common- Appeals from .sum- 
wealth, or of judgment in suit fora penalty before a magistrate, mary convi, ' tion - 
or court not of record, either party may appeal to such court of 
record as may be prescribed by law, upon allowance of the appel¬ 
late court or judge thereof upon cause shown. 

Sec. 15. All judges required to be learned in the law, except the Eieofion and term 
judges of the Supreme Court, shall be elected by the qualified elec- uf JU( g “ s ' 
tors of the respective districts over which they are to preside, and 
shall hold their offices for the period of ten years, if they shall so 
long behave themselves well; but for any reasonable cause, which Removal, 
shall not be sufficient ground for impeachment, the Governor may 
remove any of them on the address of two-thirds of each House 
of the General Assembly. 

Sec. 16. Whenever two judges of the Supreme Court are to be Ejection of judges 
chosen for the same term of service each voter shall vote for one 2 y limited vote. 111 
only, and when three are to be chosen he shall vote for no more 
than two; candidates highest in vote shall be declared elected. 

Sec. 17. Should any two or more judges of the Supreme Court, priority of eom- 
or any two or more judges of the court of common pleas' for the missions of judges 
same district, be elected at the same time, they shall, as soon after 
the election as convenient, cast lots for priority of commission, 
and certify the result to the Governor, who shall issue their com¬ 
missions in accordance therewith. 


Sec. 18. The judges of the Supreme Court and the judges of compensation of 
the several courts of common pleas, and all other judges required bulges, 
to be learned in the law, shall at stated times receive for their ser¬ 
vices an adequate compensation, which shall be fixed by law, and 
paid by the State. They shall receive no other compensation, fees Disqualification, 
or perquisites of office for their services from any source, nor hold 
any other office of profit under the United States, this State or any 
other State. 

Sec. 19. The judges of the Supreme Court, during their con- Residence of 
tinuance in office, shall reside within this Commonwealth; and the Jlu,ges * 
other judges, during their continuance in office, shall reside within 
the districts for which they shall be respectively elected. 

Sec. HO. The several courts of common pleas, besides the powers chancery powers 
herein conferred, shall have and exercise within their respective of courts of ccm- 
districts, subject to such changes as maybe made by law, such mon v eas ‘ 
chancery powers as are now vested by law in the several courts of 
common pleas of this Commonwealth, or as may hereafter be con¬ 
ferred upon them by law. 

Sec. 21. Xo duties shall be imposed bylaw upon the Supreme No extra judicial 
Court or any of the judges thereof,’except such as are judicial, nor duties for judges, 
shall any of the judges thereof exercise any power of appointment 
except as herein provided. The court of nisi prius is hereby 
abolished, and no court of original jurisdiction to lie presided over 
by any one or more of the judges of the Supreme Court shall be es¬ 
tablished. 


Sec. 22. In every county wherein the population shall exceed one separate orphans’ 
hundred and fifty thousand, the General Assembly shall, and in"’' 11 
any other county may, establish a separate orphans’ court, to con¬ 
sist of one or more judges who shall be learned in the law, which 
court shall exercise all the jurisdiction and powers now vested in 
or which may hereafter be conferred upon the orphans’ courts, and 
thereupon the jurisdiction of the judges of the court of common 
pleas within such county, in orphans’ court proceeding, shall cease 
and determine. In any county in which a separate orphans’ court Register of wins to 
shall lie established, the register of wills shall be clerk of such court be clerk Hereof, 
and subject to its directions, in all matters pertaining to his office; 
he may appoint assistant clerks, lint only with the consent and ap¬ 
proval of said court. All accounts filed with him as register or as 


clerk of the said separate orphans’ court, shall be audited by the courts 
court without expense to parties, except where all parties in interest 
in a pending proceeding shall, nominate an auditor whom the court 
may, in its discretion, appoint. In every county orphans’ courts 


Accounts therein 
to be audited by 


16 


Style of process 
and indictment. 


Review in Supreme 
Court in criminal 
cases. 


Vancancies in 
courts—how filled. 


Uniform law6 for 
courts, &c. 


Special courts pro¬ 
hibited. 


Parties may sub¬ 
mit issues of fact 
to the court. 


Appeals. 


Impeachment. 


How tried. 


What officers im¬ 
peachable. 

J udgment. 


Condition of offi¬ 
cial tenure. 


Removal. 


General oath of 
office. 


shall possess all the powers and jurisdiction of a registers’ court, 
and separate registers’ courts are hereby abolished. 

Sec. 23. The"style of all process shall be “The Commonwealth 
of Pennsylvania.” All prosecutions shall be carried on in the 
name and by the authority of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 
and conclude “against the peace and dignity of the same.” 

Sec. 24. In all cases of felonious homicide, and in such other 
criminal cases as may lie provided for by law, the accused after 
conviction and sentence, may remove the indictment, record and 
all proceedings to the Supreme Court for review. 

Sec. 25. Any vacancy happening by death, resignation or other¬ 
wise, in any court of record, shall be filled by appointment by the 
Governor, to continue till the first Monday of January next suc¬ 
ceeding the first general election, which shall occur three or more 
months after the happening of such vacancy. 

Sec. 26. All laws relating to courts shall he general and of 
uniform operation, and the organization, jurisdiction and powers 
of all courts of the same class or grade, so far as regulated by law, 
and the force and effect of the process and judgments of such courts, 
shall he uniform ; and the General Assembly is hereby prohibited 
from creating otner courts to exercise the powers vested by this 
Constitution in the judges of the courts of common pleas and or¬ 
phans’ courts. 

Sec. 27. The parties, by agreement filed, may in any civil case 
dispense with trial by jury, and submit the decision*)!' such case 
to the court having jurisdiction thereof, and such court shall hear 
and determine the same; and the judgment thereon shall he subject 
to writ of error as in other cases. 

ARTICLE VI. 

Impeachment and Removal from Office. 

Section 1. The House of Representatives shall have the sole 
power of impeachment. 

Sec. 2. All impeachments shall he tried by the Senate; when 
sitting for that purpose the Senators shall be upon oath or affirma¬ 
tion ; no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two- 
thirds of the members present. 

Sec. 3. The Governor and all other civil officers shall be liable 
to impeachment for any misdemeanor in office, hut judgment hi 
such cases shall not extend further than to removal from office and 
disqualification to hold any office of trust or profit under this Com¬ 
monwealth ; the person accused, whether convicted, or acquitted, 
shall nevertheless be liable to indictment, trial, judgment and pun¬ 
ishment according to law. 

Sec. 4. All officers shall hold their offices on the condition that 
they behave themselves well while in office, and shall be removed 
on conviction of misbehavior in office or of any infamous crime. 
Appointed officers, other than judges of the courts of record and 
the Superintendent of Public Instruction, may be removed at the 
pleasure of the power by which they shall have been appointed. 
All officers elected by the people, except Governor, Lieutenant Gov¬ 
ernor, members of the General Assembly, and judges of the courts 
of record learned in the law, shall be removed by the Governor for 
reasonable cause, after due notice and full hearing, on the address 
of two-thirds of the Senate. 

ARTICLE VII. 

Oath of Office. 

Section 1 . Senators and Representatives and all judicial, State 
and county officers shall, before entering on the duties of their re¬ 
spective offices, take and subscribe the following oatli or affirma¬ 
tion: “ I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, obey 
and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Consti¬ 
tution of this Commonwealth, and that I will discharge the duties 
of my office with fidelity; that I have not paid or contributed, or 


f 


. 17 

promised to pay or contribute, either directly or indirectly, any 
money or other valuable .thing, to procure my nomination or elec¬ 
tion, (or appointment,) except for necessary and proper expenses 
expressly authorized by law; that I have not knowingly violated 
any election law of this Commonwealth, or procured it to be done 
by others in my behalf; that I will not knowingly receive, directly 
or indirectly, any money or other valuable thing for the perform¬ 
ance or non-performance of any act or duty pertaining to my office, 
other than the compensation allowed by law.” 

The foregoing oath shall be administered by some person author¬ 
ized to administer oaths, and in the case of State officers and judges 
of the Supreme Court, shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of 
the Commonwealth, and in the case of other judicial and county 
officers, in the office of the prothonotary of the county in which the 
same is taken; any person refusing to take said oath or affirmation 
shall forfeit his office; and any person who shall be convicted of 
haying sworn or affirmed falsely, or of having violated said oath or 
affirmation, shall be guilty of perjury, and be forever disqualified 
from holding any office of trust or profit within this Common¬ 
wealth. The oath to the members of the Senate and House of 
Representatives, shall be administered by one of the judges of the 
Supreme Court or of a court of common pleas learned in the law, 
in the hall of the House to which the members shall be elected. 

ARTICLE Yill. 

Suffrage and Elections. 

Section 1. Every male citizen twenty-one years of age, posses- Qualifications or 
sing the following qualifications, shall be entitled to vote at all voters. ‘ 
elections: First. —He shall have been a citizen of the United 
States at least one month. Second. —He shall have resided in the 
State one year, (or if, having previously been a qualified elector or 
native born citizen of the State, he shall have removed therefrom 
and returned, then six months,) immediately preceding the elec¬ 
tion. Third —lie shall have resided in the election district where 
he shall offer to vote at least two months immediately preceding 
the election. Fourth. —If twenty-two years of age or upwards, he 
shall have paid within two years a State or county tax, which shall 
have been assessed at least two months and paid at least one month 
before the election. 

Sec. 2. The general election shall be held annually on the Tues- General election*, 
day next following the first Monday of November, but the General 
Assembly may by law fix a different day, two-thirds of all the 
members of each House consenting thereto. 

Sec. 3. All elections for city, ward, borough and township offi- Municipal eie*- 
cers, for regular terms of service, shall be held on the third Tues- Uous - 
day of February. 

Sec. 4. All elections by the citizens shall be by ballot. Every Elections to be v 
ballot voted shall be numbered in the order in which it shall be re- SereS!’ 111 ' t,T> 
ceived, and the number recorded by the election officers on the list 
of voters, opposite the name of the elector who presents the ballot. 

Any elector may write his name upon his ticket, or cause the same Endorsements 
to be written thereon and attested by a citizen of the district. The thereon aut K>n/0 ‘ 
election officers shall be sworn or affirmed not to disclose how any 
elector shall have votedun less required to do so as witnesses in a 
judicial proceeding. 

Sec. 5. Electors shall in all cases except treason, felony and Electors privileged 
breach or surety of the peace, be privileged from arrest during from arrest, 
their attendance on elections and in going to and returning there¬ 
from. 

Sec. 6. Whenever any of the qualified electors of this Common¬ 
wealth shall be in actual military service, under a requisition from SoUUer vot D ^‘ 
the President of the United States or by the authority of this Com¬ 
monwealth, such electors may exercise the right of suffrage in all 
elections by the citizens, under such regulations as are or shall be 
prescribed by law, as fully as if they were present at their usual 
places of election. 

2 Constitution. 


18 


GVcUon laws to bo 
uniform, but un- 
jejfistei'otl electors 
uia-v vote. 


1 Corruption to dis- 
qualiry votors. 


Challenge. 


Candidates guilty 
of bribery, Sc., 
disqualified lot- 
holding office. 

Wilful violation 
of election laws to 
disqualify for 
voting. 


Witnesses not to 
withhold testi¬ 
mony in election 


Election districts. 


Representatives to 
vote vii:a voce. 

Residence of voters 
not gained or lost 
in certain cases. 


election boards. 

Clerks. 

\ acancics. 


1'rivileges of elec¬ 
tion officers. 


Government offi- 
< its and employees 
disqualified to 
set vtj as election 
office is. 


Sec. 7. All laws regulating the holding of elections by the citi¬ 
zens or for the registration of electors shall be uniform throughout 
the State, but no elector shall be deprived of the privilege of voting 
by reason of his name not being registered. 

Sec. 8. Any person who shall give, or promise or offer to give, 
to an elector, any money, reward or other valuable consideration 
for bis vote at an election, or for withholding the same, or who 
shall give or promise to give such consideration to any other person 
or party for such elector’s vote or for the withholding thereof, and 
any elector who shall receive or agree to receive, for himself or for 
another, any money, reward or other valuable consideration for his 
vote at an election, or for withholding the same shall thereby for¬ 
feit the right to vote at such election, and any elector whose right 
to vote shall be challenged for such cause before the election offi¬ 
cers. shall be required to swear or affirm that the matter of the 
challenge is untrue before bis vote shall be received. 

Sec. 9. Any person who shall, while a candidate for office, be 
guilty of bribery, fraud, or wilful violation of any election law, 
shall be forever disqualified from holding an office of trust or profit 
in this Commonwealth; and any person convicted of wilful viola¬ 
tion of the election laws-shall, in addition to any penalties provided 
by law, be deprived of the right of suffrage absolutely for a term 
of four years. ' 

Sec. 10. I n trials of contested elections and in proceedings for the 
investigation of elections, no person shall be permitted to withhold 
his testimony upon the ground that it may criminate himself or 
subject him to public infamy; but such testimony shall not after¬ 
wards be used against him in any judicial proceeding except for 
perjury in giving such testimony. 

Sec. 11. Townships,and wards of cities or boroughs, shall form 
or be divided into election districts of compact and contiguous ter¬ 
ritory , in such manner as the court of quarter sessions of the city 
or county in which the same are located may direct: but districts 
in cities of over one hundred thousand inhabitants shall be divided 
by the courts of quarter sessions, having jurisdiction therein, 
whenever at the next preceding election more than two hundred 
and fifty votes shall have been polled therein ; and other election 
districts whenever the court of the proper county shall be of opinion 
that the convenience of the electors and the public interests will 
be promoted thereby. 

Sec. 12. All elections by persons in a representative capacity 
shall be viva voce. 

Sec. 13. For the purpose of voting no person shall be deemed to 
have gained a residence by reason of his presence, or lost it by reason 
of his absence, while employed in the service, either civil or military, 
of this State or of the United States, nor while engaged in the 
navigation of the waters of the State or of the United States, or 
on the high seas, nor while a student of any institution of learning, 
nor while kept in any poor house or other asylum at public expense, 
nor while confined in public prison. 

. Sec. 14. District election boards shall consist of a judge and two 
inspectors, who shall be chosen 'annually by the citizens. Each 
elector shall have the right to vote for the judge and one inspector, 
and each inspector shall appoint one clerk. The first election board 
for any new district shall be selected, and vacancies in election 
boards tilled, as shall be provided bylaw. Election officers shall 
lie privileged from arrest upon days of election, and while engaged 
in making up and transmitting returns, except upon warrant of a 
court of record or judge thereof, for an election fraud, for felony, 
or for wanton breach of the peace. In cities they may claim ex¬ 
emption from jury duty during their terms of service. 

Sec. 15. No person shall be qualified to serve as an election officer 
who shall hold, or shall within two months have held any office, 
appointment or employment in or under the government of the 
United States or of this State, or of any city, or county, or of any 
municipal board, commission or trust in any city, save only justices 


of the peace and aldermen, notaries public and persons in the 

militia service of the State ; nor shall any election officer be eligi- ineiigibiiay of 

ble to any civil office to be filled at an election at which he shall elcctiuu ofllCKrs - 

serve, save only to such subordinate municipal or local offices, below 

the grade of city or county offices, as shall be designated by general 

law. 

Sec. 16. The courts of common pleas of the several counties of Courts of cornrnon 
the Commonwealth shall have power, within their respective ju- picas-may appoint 
risdictions, to appoint overseers of election to supervise the pro-f^J eers 01 olcc * 
ceedings of election officers and to make report to the court as may 
be required; such appointments to be made for any district in a 
city or county upon petition of five citizens, lawful voters of such 
election district, setting forth that such appointment is a reasonable 
'precaution to secure the purity and fairness of elections; overseers 
shall be two in number for an election district, shall be residents 
therein, and shall be persons qualified to serve upon election boards', 
and in each case members of different political partk s ; whenever overseers mat <ie- 
the members of an election hoard shall differ in opinion the over- ai f fferenS! 0US oi 
seers, if they shall be agreed thereon, shall decide the question of 
difference; in appointing overseers of election all the law judges 
of the proper court, able to act at the time, Shall concur in the ap¬ 
pointments made. 

Sec. it. The trial and determination of contested elections *of 
electors of President and Vice-President, members of the General 
Assembly, and of all public officers, whether State, judicial, mu¬ 
nicipal or local, shall be by the courts of law, or by one or more of 
the law judges thereof; the General Assembly shall, by general law, 
designate the courts and judges by whom the several classes of 
election contests shall be tried, and regulate the manner of trial 
and all matters incident thereto ; but no such law assigning juris¬ 
diction, or regulating its exercise, shall apply to any contest aris¬ 
ing out of an election held before its passage. 

ARTICLE IX. 


Trial of contest* 
elections. 


Taxation and Finance. 

Sec noiv 1. All taxes shall he uniform, upon the same class of 
subjects, within the territorial limits of the authority levying the 
tax, and shall be levied and collected under general laws ; but the 
General Assembly may, by general laws, exempt from taxation 
public property used for public purposes, actual places of religious 
worship, places of burial not used or held for private or corporate 
profit, and institutions of purely public charity. 

Sec. 2. All laws exempting property from taxation, other than 
the property above enumerated, shall be void. 

Sec. 3. The power to tax corporations and corporate property 
shall not be surrendered or suspended by any contract or grant to 
which the State shall he a party. 

Sec. 4. No debt shall be created by or on behalf of the State, 
except to supply casual deficiencies of revenue, repel invasions, 
supress insurrection, defend the State in war, or to pay existing 
debt; and the debt created to supply deficiencies in revenue shall 
never exceed, in the aggregate at any one time, one million of dol¬ 
lars. 

Sec. 5. All laws, authorizing the borrowing of money by and on 
behalf of the State, shall specify tin*, purpose for which the money 
is to b. used, and the money so borrowed shall be used for the pur- 
l>ose specified and no other. 

Sec. G. The.credit of the Commonwealth shall not be pledged 
or loaned to any individual, company, corporation’ or association, 
nor shall the Commonwealth become a joint owner or stockholder 
in any company, association or corporation. 

Sec. 7. The General Assembly shall not authorize any county, 
city, borough, township or incorporated district to become a stock¬ 
holder in any company,'association or corporation, or to obtain or 
appropriate money for, or to loan its credit to, any corporation, 
association, institution or individual. 


Taxes to be uni¬ 
form. 


Exemptions. 


Limitation of 
power to exempt. 

Power to tax. cor¬ 
porations not to be 
surrendered. 

Power to make 
debts. 


Moneys borrowed 
to be used for pur¬ 
pose specified. 


State credit not to 
be loaned, &e. 


Municipalities not 
to become stock¬ 
holders, &c. 


20 


Mnnicip&l debts 
limited. 


No assumption of 
municipal debts by 
i tie State. 


Re-payment of 
municipal debt to 
Uo provided for. 


linking fund. 


Reserve in the 
treasury. 


Reserve not to l>e 
- converted to pri- 
1 ate use. 


Sec. 8. The debt of any county, city, borough, township, school 
district or other municipality or incorporated district,-except as 
herein provided, shall never exceed seven per centum upon the as¬ 
sessed value of the taxable property therein, nor shall any such 
municipality or district incur any new debt, or increase its indebt¬ 
edness to an amount exceeding two per centum upon such assessed 
valuation of property, without the assent of the electors thereof 
at a public election in such manner as shall be provided by law : 
but any city, the debt of which now exceeds seven per centum of 
such assessed valuation, may be authorized by law to increase the 
same three per centum, in the aggregate at any one time, upon 
such valuation. 

Sec. 9. The Commonwealth shall not assume the debt, or any 
part thereof, of any city, county, borough or township, unless such 
debt shall have been contracted to enable the State to repel inva¬ 
sion, suppress domestic insurrection, defend itself in time of war, 
or to assist the State in the discharge of any portion of its present 
indebtedness. 

Sec. 10. Any county, township, school district or other munici¬ 
pality incurring any indebtedness shall, at or before the time of so 
doing, provide for the collection of an annual tax sufficient to pay 
the interest and also the principal thereof within thirty years. 

Sec. 11. To provide for the payment of tlie present State debt, 
and any additional debt contracted as aforesaid, the General As¬ 
sembly shall continue and maintain the sinking fund, sufficient to 
pay the accruing interest on such debt, and annually to reduce the 
principal thereof by a sum not less than two hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars; the said sinking fund shall consist of the pro¬ 
ceeds of the sales of the public works or any part thereof, and of 
the income or proceeds of the sale of any stocks owned by the Com¬ 
monwealth, together with other funds and resources that may be 
designated by law, and shall be increased from time to time by 
assigning to it any part of tlie taxes or other revenues of the State 
not required for the ordinary and current expenses of government; 
and unless in case of war, invasion or insurrection, no part of the 
said sinking fund shall be used or applied otherwise than in the ex¬ 
tinguishment of the public debt. 

Sec. 12. The moneys of tlie State, over and above the necessary 
reserve, shall be used in tlie payment of the debt of the State, 
either directly or through the sinking fund, and the moneys of the 
sinking fund shall never be invested in or loaned upon the security 
of anything, except the bonds of the United States or of this State. 

Sec. 13. The moneys held as necessary reserve shall be limited 
by law to the amount required for current expenses, and shall be¬ 
seemed and kept as may be provided by law. Monthly statements 
shall be published showing the amount of such moneys, where the 
same are deposited, and how secured. 

Sec. 14. The making of profit out of the public moneys or using 
the same for any purpose not authorized by law by any officer of 
the State, or member or officer of the General Assembly, shall be 
a misdemeanor and shall be punished as may be provided by law, 
but part of such punishment shall be disqualification to hold office 
for a period of not less than five years. 


ARTICLE X. 
Education. 


' Sec. 1 . The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance 
and support of a thorough and efficient system of public schools, 
wherein all the children of this Commonwealth above the age of 
six years may be educated, and shall appropriate at least one mil¬ 
lion dollars each year for that purpose. 

.. 8®?- 2- No moiiey raised for the support of the public schools of 

h> sectarian schoolthe Commonwealth shall be appropriated to or used for the support 
of any sectarian school. 


Puhfic schools to 
l>« maintained. 


A mount appro¬ 
priated . 

No appropriation 


21 


Sec. 3. Women twenty-one years of age and upwards, shall be women eu-puie to 
eligible to any office of control or management under the school scho01 oflices - 
laws of this State. 

ARTICLE XL 

Militia. 

Section 1 . The freemen of this Commonwealth shall be armed, organization of 
organized and disciplined for its defence when and in such manner miiitia - 
as may be directed by law. The General Assembly shall provide 
for maintaining the militia by appropriations from the Treasury of 
the Commonwealth, and may exempt from military service persons Exemption au- 
liaving conscientious scruples against bearing arms. tuorized. 


ARTICLE XII. 

Public Officers. 

Section 1. All officers, whose selection is not provided for in selection of public 
this Constitution, shall be elected or appointed as may directed by cfficers * 

law. 

Sec. 2. Xo member of Congress from this State, nor any person Fe(lcral offi(Vn . 
holding or exercising any office or appointment of trust or profit disqualified for 
under the United States, shall at the same time hold or exercise 8tate offlce - 
any office in this State to which a salary, fees or perquisites shall 
be attached. The General Assembly may by law declare what 
offices are incompatible. 

Sec. 3. Any person who shall fight a duel or send a challenge for Dueling disquaiu- 
tliat purpose, or be aider or abettor in fighting a duel, shall be de- cation For office. 1 
prived of the right of holding any office of honor or profit in this 
State, and may be otherwise punished as shall be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

JS r ew Counties. 

Section 1. Xo new county shall be established which shall re- Ijimitatkm of 
duce any county to less than four hundred square miles, or to less power to create 
than twenty thousand inhabitants; nor shall any county be formed aunties, 
of less area, or containing a less population; nor shall any line 
thereof pass within ten miles of the county seat of any county 
proposed to be divided. 

ARTICLE XIV. 

County Officers. 

Section 1. County officers shall consist of sheriffs, coroners, county officers, 
prothonotaries, registers of wills, recorders of deeds, commission¬ 
ers, treasurers, surveyors, auditors or controllers, clerks of the 
courts, district attorneys and such others as may from time to time 
be established by law; and no sheriff or treasurer shall be eligible 
for the term next succeeding the one for which he may be elected. 

* Sec. 2. County officers shall be elected at the general elections E i ecti01 i and teu- 
and shall hold their offices for the term of three years, beginning ure. 
on the first Monday of January next after their election, and un¬ 
til their successors shall be duly qualified; all vacancies not other- vacancies, 
wise provided for shall be filled in such manner as may be provided 
by law. 

Sec. 3. Xo person shall be appointed to any office within any Residence of coum- 
county who shall not have been a citizen and an inhabitant therein ty oflicer - s - 
one year next before his appointment, if the county shall have 
been so long erected, but if it shall not have been so long erected, 
then within the limits of the county or coimties put of which it 
shall have been taken. 

Sec. 4. Prothonotaries, clerks of the courts, recorders of deeds, 0ffices t0 be kept 
registers of wills, county surveyors and sheriffs, shall keep their in county town, 
offices in the county town of the county in which they respectively 
shall be officers. 


Compensation. 


« 


Accountability of 
municipal officers. 


County commis¬ 
sioners and audi¬ 
tors to be chosen 
by limited vote. 


Vacancies—how 
tilled. 


Sec. 5. The compensation of county officers shall be regulated 
by law, and all county officers who are or may be salaried shall pay 
all fees which they may be authorized to receive, into the treasury 
of the county or State, as may be directed by law. In counties 
containing over one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants all 
county officers shall be paid by salary, and the salary of any such 
officer and his clerks, heretofore paid by fees, shall not exceed the 
aggregate amount of fees earned during his term and collected by 
or for him. 

Sec. 6 . The General Assembly shall provide by law for the strict 
accountability of all county, township and borough officers, as well 
for the fees which may be collected by them, as for all public or 
municipal moneys which may be paid to them. 

Sec. 7. Three county commissioners and three county auditors 
shall be elected in each county where such officers are chosen, in 
the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five and every 
third year thereafter; and in the election of said officers each 
qualified elector shall vote for no more than two persons, and the 
three persons having the highest number of votes shall be elected; 
any casual vacancy in the office of county commissioner or county 
auditor shall be filled by the court of common pleas of the county 
in which such vacancy shall occi^r, by the appointment of an elec¬ 
tor of the proper county who shall have voted for the commis¬ 
sioner or auditor whose place is to be filled. 


ARTICLE XY. 


Oeneral laws to es¬ 
tablish cities. 


Municipal com¬ 
missions not to in¬ 
cur debts except on 
appi opriations. 

Sinking funds in 
cities. 


Cities and City Charters . 

Section 1. Cities may be chartered whenever a majority of the 
electors of any town or borough having a population of at least 
ten thousand shall vote at any general election in favor of the same. 

Sec. 2. No debt shall be contracted or liability incurred by any 
municipal commission, except in pursuance of an appropriation 
previously made therefor by the municipal government. 

Sec. 3. Every city shall create a sinking fund, which shall be in¬ 
violably pledged for the payment of its funded debt. 

ARTICLE XVI. 

Private Corporations. 

Unused charters to Section 1. All existing charters, or grants of special or exclu- 
vokL sive privileges, under which a hona fide organization shall not have 

taken place and business been commenced in good faith, at the time 
of the adoption of this Constitution, shall thereafter have no va- 


U o charter to be 
validated or 
amended except 
on condition. 


liight of eminent 
domain' not to be 
abridged or police 
power to be limited 


The tree vote in 
stockholder elec¬ 
tions. 


Foreign corpora¬ 
te oas to have places 
of business in State 


Sec. 2. The General Assembly shall not remit the forfeiture of 
the charter of any corporation now existing, or alter or amend the 
same, or pass any other general or special law for the benefit of 
sucli corporation, except upon the condition that such corporation 
shall thereafter hold its charter subject to the provisions of this 
Constitution. 

Sec. 3. The exercise of the right of eminent domain shall never 
be abridged or so construed as to prevent the General Assembly 
from taking the property and franchises of incorporated companies, 
and subjecting them to public use, the same as the property of in¬ 
dividuals ; and the exercise of the police power of the State shall 
never he abridged or so construed as to permit corporations to con¬ 
duct their business in such manner as to infringe the equal rights 
of individuals or the general well-being of the State. 

Sec. 4. In all elections for directors or managers of a corpora¬ 
tion each member or shareholder may cast the whole number of his 
votes for one candidate, or distribute them upon two or more can¬ 
didates, as he may prefer. 

Sec. 5 No foreign corporation shall do any business in this State 
without having-one or more known places of business and an au¬ 
thorized agent or agents in the same upon whom process mav be 
served. 


Sgc. 6. No corporation shall engage in any business other than 
that expressly authorized in its charter, nor" shall it take or hold 
any real estate except such as may be necessary and proper for its 
legitimate business. 

Sec. 7. No corporation shall issue stocks or bonds except for 
money, labor done, or money or property actually received ; and all 
fictitious increase of stock or indebtedness shall be void. The stock 
and indebtedness of corporations shall not be increased except in 
pursuance of general law, nor without the consent of the persons 
holding the larger amount in value of the stock, first obtained at a 
meeting to be held after sixty days notice given in pursuance of 
law. 

Sec. 8. Municipal and other corporations and individuals in¬ 
vested with the privilege of taking private property for public use 
shall make just compensation for property taken, injured or de¬ 
stroyed by the construction or enlargment of their works, highways 
or improvements, which compensation shall be paid or secured be¬ 
fore such taking, injury or destruction. The General Assembly is 
hereby prohibited from depriving any person of an appeal from any 
preliminary assessment of damages against any such corporations 
nr individuals made by viewers or otherwise ; and the amount of 
such damages in all cases of appeal shall on the demand of either 
party be determined by a jury according to the course of the 
common law. 

Sec. 9. Every banking law shall provide for the registry and 
countersigning, by an officer of the State, of all notes or biils de¬ 
signed for circulation, and that ample security to the full amount 
thereof shall be deposited with the Auditor General for the re¬ 
demption of such notes or bills. 

Sec. 10. The General Assembly shall have the power to alter, 
revoke or annul any charter of incorporation now existing and re- 
vokable at the adoption of this Constitution, or any that may here¬ 
after be created, whenever in their opinion it may be injurious to 
the citizens of this Commonwealth, in such manner, however, that 
no injustice shall be done to the corporators. No law hereafter 
enacted shall create, renew or extend lire charter of more than one 
corporation. 

Sec. 11. No corporate body to possess banking and discounting 
privileges shall be created or organized in pursuance of any law 
without three months’ previous public notice, at the place of the 
intended location,.of the intention to apply for such privileges, in 
such manner as shall be prescribed by law, nor shall a charter for 
such privilege be granted for a longer period than twenty years. 

Sec. 12. Anv association or corporation organized for the purpose, 
or any individual, shall have the right to construct and maintain 
lines of telegraph within this State, and to connect the same with 
other lines, and the General Assembly shall, by general law of 
uniform operation, provide reason able regulations to give full effect 
to this section. No telegraph company shall consolidate with, or 
hold a controlling interest in the stock or bonds of any other tele¬ 
graph company owning a competing line, or acquire, by purchase 
or otherwise, any other competing line of telegraph. 

Sec. 13. The term “corporations,” as used in this article, shall 
be construed to include all joint stock companies or associations 
having any of the powers or privileges of corporations not pos¬ 
sessed by individuals or partnerships. 

ARTICLE NYU. 

Railroads and Canals. 


Corporations not 
to engage in busi¬ 
ness unauthorized 
by their charters. 

The fictitious in¬ 
crease of stocks or 
bonds forbidden. 


The taking and in¬ 
jury of private pro¬ 
perty to be corn - 
pensated. 


Appeals from as¬ 
sessment of dam¬ 
ages. 


Bank notes or bills 
to be secured. 


Repeal of charters 
authorized. 


Xo law to create, 
&c., more than 
one charter. 


Notice of bills to 
create ban ks. 


Bank charters lint 
ited to twenty 
years. 


The word “cot po¬ 
tation” 1 1.dinod. 


Section 1 . All railroads and 


and oa- 
c hlgh- 


___ canals shall be public highways,' 

and all railroad and canal companies shall be common carriers. p Wt., .. 
Any association or corporation organized for the purpose shall have 
the right to construct and operate a railroad between any points 
within this State, and to connect at the State line "with lailioado 
of other States. Every railroad company shall have the right with 


24 


Shall have connec¬ 
tions and use of 
connecting roads. 

Railroad and canal 
companies to keep 
offices in the State. 


Discriminations in 
charges for freight 
and passengers 
prohibited. 


Consolidation wi th 
competing compa¬ 
nies prohibited. 


Officers of compa¬ 
nies not to be offi- 
eers of competing 
companies. 


Common carrier 
corporations not to 
engage in mining, 
manufacturing, & e 


Exception. 


Officers, &c., of 
companies not to 
engage in trans¬ 
portation business. 


No discrimination 
i ii charges to trans¬ 
porters. 


¥ ree passes on rail¬ 
roads prohibited. 


Passenger rail¬ 
roads not to be 
constructed with¬ 
out consent of mu¬ 
nicipal authorities 

Acceptance of this 
article by compa- 
nies. 




its road to intersect, connect with or cross any other railroad; and 
shall receive and transport each the other’s passengers, tonnage and 
cars loaded or empty, without delay or discrimination. 

Sec. 2. Every railroad and canal corporation organized in this 
State shall maintain an office therein where transfers of its stock 
shall he made, and where its books shall be kept for inspection by 
any stockholder or creditor of such corporation, in which shall be 
recorded the amount of capital stock subscribed or paid in, and by 
whom, the names of the owners of its stock and the amounts 
owned by them, respectively, the transfers of said stock, and the 
names and places of residence of its officers. 

Sec. 3. All individuals, associations and corporations shall have 
equal right to have persons and property transported over railroads 
and canals, and no undue or unreasonable discrimination shall be 
made in charges for, or in facilities for, transportation of freight 
or passengers within the State, or coming from or going to any 
other State. Persons and property transported over any railroad 
shall be delivered at any station at charges not exceeding tin* 
charges for transportation of persons and property of the same class 
in the same direction to any more distant station; but excursion 
and commutation tickets may be issued at special rates. 

Sec. 4. No railroad, canal or other corporation, or the lessees, 
purchasers or managers of any railroad or canal corporation, shali 
consolidate the stock, property or franchises of such corporation 
with, or lease, or purchase the works or franchises of, or in any way 
control any other railroad or canal corporation owning or having 
under its control a parallel or competing line; nor shall any officer 
of such railroad or canal corporation act as an officer of any other 
railroad or canal corporation owning or having the control of a 
parallel or competing line; and the question whether railroads or 
canals are parallel or competing lines shall, when demanded by the 
party complainant, be decided by a jury as in other civil issues. 

Sec. 5. No incorporated company doing the business of a com¬ 
mon carrier shall, directly or indirectly, prosecute or engage in 
mining or manufacturing articles for transportation over its works; 
nor shall such company, directly or indirectly, engage in any other 
business than that of common carriers, or hold or acquire lands, 
freehold or leasehold, directly or indirectly, except such as shall be 
necessary for carrying on its business; but any mining or mann-. 
facturing company may carry the products of its mines and manu¬ 
factories on its railroad or canal not exceeding fifty miles in length. 

Sec. 6. No president, director, officer, agent or employee of any 
railroad or canal company shall be interested, directly or indirectly, 
in the furnishing of material or supplies to such company, or in the 
business of transportation as a common carrier of freight or pas¬ 
sengers over the works owned, leased, controlled or worked by such 
company. 

Sec. 7. No discrimination in charges or facilities for transporta¬ 
tion shall be made between transportation companies and indi¬ 
viduals, or in favor of either, by abatement, drawback or other¬ 
wise, and no railroad or canal company, or any lessee, manager or 
employee thereof, shall make any preferences in furnishing cars or 
motive power. 

Sec. 8 . No railroad, railway or other transportation company 
shall grant free passes, or passes at a discount, to any person except 
officers or employees of the company. 

Sec. 9. No street passenger railway shall he constructed within 
the limits of any city, borough or township, without the consent 
of its local authorities. 

Sec. 10. No railroad, canal or other transportation company, in 
existence at the time of the adoption of this article, shall have the 
benefit of any future legislation by general or special laws, except 
on condition of complete acceptance of all the provisions of this 
article. 

Sec. 11. The existing powers and duties of the Auditor General 
in regard to railroads, canals and other transportation companies, 


( 


25 

except as to their accounts,’are hereby transferred to the Secretary Duties of Auditor 



made, said Secretary may require special reports at any time upon 
any subject relating to the business* of said companies from any 
officer or officers thereof. 

Sec. 12. The General Assembly shall enforce by appropriate 
legislation the provisions of this artic.e. 

AKTICli/E xaiii. 

Future Ar^iendr °nU. 

Section 1. Any amendment or nine lments to this Constitution Amendments may 
may be proposed in the Senate or 1 Tom )f Representatives; and, if i^TslKe b> 
the same shall be agreed to by a may^ori of the members elected to 
each House, such proposed amendmt , n V amendments shall be en¬ 
tered on their journals with the yeas an'u nays taken thereon, and the 
Secretary of the Commonwealth shall cause the same to be published 
three months before the next general election, in at least two news¬ 
papers in every county in which such newspapers shall be pub¬ 
lished; and if, in the General Assembly next afterwards chosen, 
such proposed amendment or amendments shall be agreed to by a 
majority of the members elected to each House, the Secretary of 
the Commonwealth shall cause the same again to be published in 
the manner aforesaid ; and such proposed amendment or amend¬ 
ments shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the State in 
such manner, and at such time at least three months after being so 
agreed to by the two Houses, as the General Assembly shall pre¬ 
scribe ; and, if such amendment or amendments shall be approved 
by a majority of those voting thereon, such amendment or amend¬ 
ments shall become a part of the Constitution; but no amend- Amendments not 
ment or amendments shall be submitted oftener than once in five oft^er tiSn one# 
years. When two or more amendments shall be submitted they in five years, 
shall be voted upon separately. 



That no inconvenience may arise from tlyc clrojhges in the Constitution of the 
Commonwealth, and in order to carry th# same into complete operation, it is 
hereby declared, that: ; \ 

Section 1 . This Constitution shall tak 'effect on the first day of January, in 
the year one thousand eight hundred and alentv-four, for all purposes not other 
wise provided for therein. 

Sec. 2. All laws in force in this Comm 
this Constitution not inconsistent therev 
and contracts shall continue as if this C( 

Sec. 3. At the general election in th< 


H/l 

nC Wlth at tlie time of the adoption of 
°yid all rights, actions, prosecutions 


ition had not been adopted. 


^ one thousand eight hundred and 
seventy-four and one thousand eight hifnured and seventy-five, Senators shall be 
elected in all districts where there shall be vacancies. Those elected in the year one 
thousand eight hundred and seventy-four shall serve for two years, and those 
elected in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five shall serve for one 
year. Senators now elected and those whose terms are unexpired shall represent 
the districts in which they reside until the end of the terms for which they were 
elected. 

Sec. 4. At the general election in the year one thousand eight hundred and sev¬ 
enty-six, Senators shall be elected from even numbered districts to serve for two 
years, and from odd numbered districts to serve for four years. 

Sec. 5. The first election of Governor under this Constitution shall be at the 
general election in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, when a 
Governor shall be elected for three years ; and the term of the Governor elected 
in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight and of those thereafter 
elected -shall be for four years, according to the provisions of this Constitution. 

Sec. 6. At the general election in the year one thousand eight hundred and 
seventy-four, a Lieutenant Governor shall be elected according to the provisions 
of this Constitution. 

Sec. 7. The Secretary of Internal Affairs shall be elected at the first general 
election after the adoption of this Constitution ; and, when the said officer shall 
be duly elected and qualified, the office of Surveyor General shall be abolished. 
The Surveyor General in office at the time of the adoption of this Constitution 
shall continue in office until the expiration of the term for which he was elected. 

Sec. 8. When the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be duly qualified 
the office of Superintendent of Common Schools shall cease. 

Sec. 9. Nothing contained in this Constitution shall be construed to render any 
person now holding any State office for a first official term ineligible for re-election 
at the end of such term. 

Sec. 10. The judges of the Supreme Court in office when this Constitution shall 
take effect, shall continue until their commissions severally expire. Two judges, 
in addition to the number now composing the said court, shall be elected at the 
first general election after the adoption of this Constitution. 



the counties of Schuylkill, Lebanon and Dauphin, is hereby abolished, and all 
causes and proceedings pending therein in the county of Schuylkill shall be tried 
and disposed of in the courts of oyer and terminer and quarter sessions of the 
peace of said county. 

Sec. 12. The register’s courts now in existence shall be abolished on the first 
day of January next succeeding the adoption of this Constitution. 

SEC. 13. The General Assembly shall, at the next session after the adoption of this 
Constitution, designate the several judicial districts as required by this Constitu¬ 
tion. The judges in commission when such designation shall be made shall con- 






27 


Sec. 14. The General Assembly shall, at the next succeeding se 
deemrual census and wot ofleiiei, designate the several judicial 


jssion after each 
_„_districts, as re- 

quircd by this Constitution. 

Sec. Id. Judges learned in the law of any court of record, holding commissions 
in force at the adoption of this Constitution, shall hold their respective offices until 
the expiration of the norms for which they were commissioned, and until their 
successors shall be duly qualified. The Governor shall commission the president 
judge of the court of first criminal jurisdiction for the counties of Schuylkill, 
Lebanon and Dauphin 1 as a judge of the court of common pleas of Schuylkill 
county, for the unexpiied term of his office. 

Sec. 16. After the expiration of the term of any president judge of any court 
of common pleas, in commission at the adoption of this Constitution, the judge 
of such court learned iii, the la w and oldest in commission shall be the president 
judge thereof; and when s t wo or more judges are elected at the same time in any 



alter the adoption of this Constitution, shall be commissioned to hold their offices 


for the term of five years from the first clay of January next after their election. 

Sec. 17. The General Assembly, at the first session after the adoption of this 
Constitution, shall fix and determine the compensation of the judges of the Su¬ 
preme Court and of the judges of 1 the several judicial districts of the Common¬ 
wealth ; and the provisions of the thirteenth section of the article on Legislation 
shall not be deemed-inconsistent herewith. Nothing contained in this Constitu¬ 
tion shall be held to reduce the compensation now paid to any law judge of this 
Commonwealth now in commisson. 

Sec. 18. The courts of common pleas in the counties of Philadelphia and Alle¬ 
gheny, shall be composed of the present judges of the district court and court of 
common pleas of said counties until their oil ices, shall severally end, and of such 
other judges as may from time to time be selected. For the purpose of first or¬ 
ganization in Philadelphia, the judges of the court number, one, shall be Judges 
Allison, Pierce and Paxson; of the court number two,' Judges Hare, Mitchell and 
one other judge, to be elected; of the court number -three, Judges Ludlow, Fin- 
letter and Lynd; and of the court number four, Judges Thayer, Briggs and one 
other judge, to be elected. The judge first named shall be the president judge of 
said courts respectively, and thereafter the president judge shall be the judge 
oldest in commission; but any president judge reelected in the same court or 
district shall continue to be president judge thereof. The additional judges for 
courts numbers two and four, shall be voted for and elected at the-first general 
election after the adoption of this Constitution, in the same manner as the two 
additional judges of the Supreme Court, and they sf\all decide by lot to which 
court they shall belong. Their term of office shall commence on .the first Monday 
of January, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five. 

Sec. 19. In the county of Allegheny, for the purpose of first organization under 
this Constitution, the judges of-the court of common pleas, at the time of the 
adoption of this Constitution, shall be the judges of the court number one, and 
the judges of the district court, at the same date, shall be the judges of the com¬ 
mon pleas number two. The president judges of the common pleas and district 
court shall be president judge of said courts number one and two, respectively, 
until their offices shall end; and thereafter the judge oldest in commission shall 
be president judge; but any president judge re-elected in the same court or dis¬ 
trict shall continue to be president judge thereof. 

Sec. 20. The organization of the courts of common pleas under this Constitu¬ 
tion for the counties of Philadelphia and Allegheny shall take effect on the first 
Monday of January, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, and existing 
courts in said counties shall continue with their present powers and jurisdiction 
until that date, but no new suits shall be instituted in the courts of nisi prius 
after the adoption of this Constitution. 

Sec. 21. The causes and proceedings pending in the court of nisi prius, court of 
common pleas, and district court in Philadelphia shall be tried and disposed of in 
the court of common pleas. The records and dockets of said courts shall be 
transferred to the prothonotary’s office of said county. 

Sec. 22. The causes and proceedings pending in the court of common pleas in 
the county of Allegheny shall be tried and disposed of in the court number.one; 
aud the causes and proceedings pending in the district court shall be tried and 
disposed of in the court number two. 


/ 


28 

Sec. 23. The prothonotary of the court of common pleas of Philadelphia shall 
be first appointed by the judges of said court on the first Monday of December, 
in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, and the present pro¬ 
thonotary of the district court in said county shall be the prothonotary of the said 
court of common pleas until said date when his commission shall expire, and the 
present clerk of the court of oyer and terminer and quarter sessions of the peace 
in Philadelphia shall be the clerk of such court until the expiration of his present 
commission on the first Monday of December, in the year one thousand eight 
hundred and seventy-five. 

Sec. 24. In cities containing over fifty thousand inhabitants, except Philadel¬ 
phia, all aldermen in office at the time of the adoption of this Constitution shall 
continue in office until the expiration of their commissions; and at the election 
for city and ward officers in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy- 
five, one alderman shall be elected in each ward as provided in this Constitution. 

Sec. 2o. In Philadelphia magistrates, in lieu of aldermen, shall be chosen, as 
required in this Constitution, at the election in said city for city and ward officers 
in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five; their term of office 
shall commence on the first Monday of April succeeding their election. The 
terms of office of aldermen in said city holding, or entitled to, commissions at the 
time of the adoption of this Constitution shall not be affected thereby. 

Sec. 26. All persons in office in this Commonwealth at the time of the adoption 
of this Constitution, and at the first election under it, shall hold their respective 
offices until the term for which they have been elected or appointed shall expire, 
and until their successors shall be duly qualified, unless otherwise provided in this 
Constitution. 

Sec. 27. The seventh article of this.CA'Atitiition prescribing an oath of office 
shall take effect on and after the first day of January, one thousand eight hun¬ 
dred and seventy-five. 

Sec. 28. The terms of office,Af county commissioners and county auditors, 
chosen prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, which shall 
not have expired before the first Monday of January in the year one thousand 
eight hundred and seventyvsix, shall expire on that day. 

Sec. 29. All State, county, city, ward, borough and township officers in office 
at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, whose compensation is not pro¬ 
vided for by salaries alone, Lhall continue to receive the compensation allowed 
them by law until the expiration of their respective terms of office. 

Sec. 30. All State and judicial officers heretofore elected, sworn, affirmed, or in 
office when this Constitution shall take effect, shall severally, within one month 
after such adoption, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation to support this 
Constitution. 

Sec. 31. The General Assembly at its first session, or as soon as may be, after 
the adoption of this Constitution, shall pass such laws as may be necessary to 
carry the same into full foiiye and effect. 

Sec. 32. The ordinance passed by this Convention entitled u An ordinance for 
submitting the amended Constitution of Pennsylvania to a vote of the electors 
thereof” shall be held to be valid for all the purposes thereof. 

Sec. 33. The words u county commissioners,” wherever used in this Constitu¬ 
tion and in any ordinance accompanying the same, shall be held to include tb* 
commissioners for the city of Philadelphia. 

Adopted at Pliiladelphia, on the third day of November, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three. 


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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